Green issues were once the preserve of tree huggers. Now the City is embracing eco-friendly industries  and making money from them. Dominic OConnell and Grant Ringshaw report

Quarter past seven is an early start for a conference, even by the standards of the City. But early starts mean nothing when there is the smell of money in the air.

Ten days ago dozens of fund managers, hedge-fund traders and analysts crowded into a suite of meeting rooms at Claridge’s, the swish London hotel, just after 7am to hear a series of briefings from companies in a hot new investment area — green energy.

The speakers ranged from the sublime to the faintly ridiculous. Lord Moynihan, sports minister under Margaret Thatcher and chairman of the British Olympic Association, did a smooth 20 minutes on his wind-turbine company, Clipper Windpower, while Todd Jones of Agcert talked excitedly about a system of making money by capturing methane gas from the droppings of farm animals in the Third World.